Everything you need to know about the American Music Awards

Unlike the Grammys, where an academy of music industry professionals decides who receives awards, the American Music Awards are entirely fan-voted, putting the power in the listeners' hands.

The 43rd annual awards, which celebrate the artists in the zeitgeist of pop music, returns this Sunday to ABC for an evening packed with A-list performances. Here's everything you need to know about this year's awards.

What are the AMAs?

Dick Clark created the American Music Awards in 1973. Hailed as “the world's biggest fan-voted award show,” AMAs winners are chosen by the public, via polls on the AMAs website.

The AMAs award trophies in specific genres, including Pop/Rock, Alternative Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Adult Contemporary, Contemporary Inspirational, Latin, EDM and Soundtrack, alongside more general categories like New Artist of the Year, Song of The Year, Collaboration of the Year and Artist of the Year.

What time are the AMAs?

The AMAs air live on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

How can I watch?

If you have the right TV provider and live in a supported city, you can live-stream the show via ABC. ABC’s website and app offer live-streaming for participating TV providers in select markets: Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco.

This year's nominees include Drake, who leads the pack with a record 13 nominations, followed by Rihanna with seven nominations and Adele and Justin Bieber with five nominations each.

Along with Bieber and Rihanna, the nominees for Artist of the Year, the night's preeminent award, include Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande and Carrie Underwood. Sting will also take the stage to accept The American Music Award of Merit during the show.

Gigi Hadid and Jay Pharaoh host this year’s awards, joined by an all-star group of performers: Maroon Five and Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Fifth Harmony, James Bay, Green Day, John Legend, Bruno Mars, Shawn Mendes, Twenty One Pilots, The Weeknd, The Chainsmokers and Halsey, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, and Justin Bieber, who will perform from Switzerland.

Who is attending?

Just because they're nominated for an award doesn't mean a celebrity will attend a show — especially for music, since artists are often touring or recording when the show airs.

Drake is a notorious snubber of awards ceremonies, but he's rumored to be in attendance at Sunday's AMAs — potentially with Taylor Swift in tow. Also suspected to attend is Selena Gomez, after the star announced in August she'd take time away from the spotlight to focus on her health.